


Burned

by AtarahDerekh



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Gen, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, burn victim descriptions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:20:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24991432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AtarahDerekh/pseuds/AtarahDerekh
Summary: A one-shot look at the battle that led to Bato being severely burned and left at the abbey. Character piece exploring Hakoda's probable PTSD.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 16





	Burned

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own the setting or the characters of Hakoda, Bato or Gilak. They belong to Nickelodeon. I'm just borrowing them for now.
> 
> Please be conscious of the trigger warnings in the tags.

“Brace for impact!”

Hakoda threw himself on the deck as another fiery projectile hit the water beside the ship, sending a fountain of seawater upward and violently rocking the ship yet again. These larger Fire Nation vessels were equipped with trebuchets the likes of which Hakoda and his men could never have imagined. And the Southern Water Tribe langskips were certainly not equipped to face them. Hakoda had known they'd strayed too far west, which was why they'd run into the Fire Navy blockade. 

In his own defense, he and his men only knew the basics of wayfinding when they'd left home, and were forced to learn on the go. Clearly they still made mistakes. They were supposed to hug Earth Kingdom shores and avoid the western portion of the Mo Ce Sea. But somehow they'd gotten their stars wrong, or missed a current somewhere, and found themselves in their present situation.

Hakoda scrambled to his feet as the boat pitched. He reached out to grab the rail, only to be steadied by the strong hands of his best friend and bosun, Bato.

“We need to get out of here!” Bato cried over the bombardment.

Hakoda nodded. “Couldn't agree more. Don't let our fleet engage! Retreat!”

Bato shouted orders to the signal man, who relayed them down the line of ships. Thankfully, none of their crews were feeling particularly uppity that day, acknowledging the orders and turning back east.

Hakoda ran for the rudder while Bato jumped on the main sail.

But the Fire Nation wasn't about to make it so easy for them to retreat. Two ships broke formation and started after the tiny fleet, trying to cut the Water Tribe combatants off before they could escape.

“Hope they remember their iceberg dodging lessons!” Bato cried.

Hakoda certainly remembered his. He shouted orders to his crew as he steered the smaller, nimbler craft between the two hulking metal vessels. As was his custom, he made sure the rest of the fleet was safely away first.

But that also left his own vessel open to attack. And as the langskip veered too close to one of the Fire Navy ships, Hakoda found himself unable to evade one of the grappling hooks that were deployed. The huge, anchor-like barb crashed onto his deck and attached itself to the railing. The attacking ship made no effort to completely retract the device, and Hakoda looked up to see ropes thrown down and Fire Navy sailors rappelling down.

“Prepare to be boarded!” Hakoda shouted, taking up his club and boomerang. “Naniq, Tuni, get the ship free!”

The two tribesmen, both tall, burly young men, nodded and set to work on the grappling hook as five Fire Nation sailors landed on the deck and engaged the remaining three crew members.

All the sailors on their ship were firebenders, but that was nothing Hakoda and his men couldn't handle. Their fifth crewman, a boy barely old enough to sail with them two years ago, used his smaller size to nimbly dodge his attackers, much the same way the langskip dodged the larger Fire Navy vessels.

Unfortunately, the boy's inexperience got the better of him, and he found himself pinned by a sailor. Bato had to come to his rescue. Hakoda turned from dispatching one of their enemies to see Bato struggling with the firebender while another snuck up behind him.

“Bato, behind you!” Hakoda cried, plucking his boomerang from its holster and flinging it in the direction of the advancing firebender.

Before the weapon could connect, and with just barely enough time for Bato to turn to see his assailant, the firebender blasted a fireball at the Water Tribesman, still locked in hand to hand combat with his other opponent. The force sent both of them crashing to the deck, just as Hakoda's boomerang sent their arsonist into oblivion for the next several minutes.

“Bato!” Hakoda cried, rushing forward.

The firebender Bato had been struggling with shoved Bato's limp form off of himself, stood up and turned his helmeted head in the direction of his unconscious comrade. “Darn it, Ling, how many times do we have to tell you not to blast us while we're holding an—”

His lecture got cut off as the Water Tribe boy smacked him hard in the back of the head. He fell face down, his helmet unable to fully withstand the blow of a well made whale bone and stone Water Tribe club. The boy turned to where Hakoda, staring in horror, knelt over Bato.

“Is he...”

The ship lurched as Naniq and Tuni managed to dislodge the grappling hook. Hakoda stumbled, snapped back to reality. He turned to the boy. “Sungka, stay with Bato! Naniq, Tuni, grab the sails and get us out of here!”

The men scrambled to obey as Hakoda took the rudder again. He yanked the large oar sharply to the right, sending the ship back into the surf, where it once again caught the wind. The maneuver was successful. Another grappling hook landed just shy of its target, while firebenders aboard the enemy ship rained fire down on the langskip's sails, to no avail.

Once free, the langskip easily outpaced the large Fire Navy ships. Hakoda looked up to see his fleet waiting for him, with some ships turning back, intending to help. His ship caught up easily, and he pulled up alongside another langskip, beckoning them over.

The captain of the other vessel, an older, slightly heavyset man with a thick beard, called out, “What happened, Hakoda?”

“I need your healer, Gilak,” Hakoda shouted back. “Bato's wounded!”

Gilak nodded and summoned the man Hakoda requested. “How bad?”

“Took a fireball to the chest. He's unconscious, but he's alive.”

“You have prisoners,” Gilak observed, noticing the firebender Hakoda had felled starting to stir. Before the man was able to return fully to consciousness, Tuni walked over and rapped him sharply on the head with a fist. Poor Ling fell unconscious again.

Hakoda ground his teeth. “We'll deal with them after we take care of Bato,” he said.  
_______________________________________________________________________

An hour or so later, the two firebenders were secured below deck on Gilak's ship, chained up so neither of them could bend. Hakoda paced above deck on his own ship, waiting for the healer to come topside and give him a report. He would've loved to be down below, hovering over the healer's shoulder, making sure his best friend was still breathing. The healer had even offered to let him watch and help.

But he just...couldn't.

He turned when he heard someone coming up the steps. The healer appeared, wiping his hands.

“How is he?” Hakoda asked.

“Awake now,” the healer replied. “Unfortunately. I've debrided the burns some, but they're extensive, Chief Hakoda. We don't have the means to treat them. We'll have to make for the nearest friendly port.”

Hakoda nodded. “Anything you can give him for the pain?”

“Very little. He'd feel better to have a friend by his side.”

Hakoda swallowed and nodded. “Let me...let me set our course, then I'll go see him.”

The healer nodded his acknowledgment and turned to go back below deck. “The draft from your new skylight isn't going to do him much good, you know,” he commented.

Hakoda chuckled dryly at the thought of the hole in the deck. “I'll get Naniq on that right away,” he promised.

“Hakoda,” Gilak called from his vessel, “what would you have us do with these two ash makers we've got stowed away over here?”

Hakoda rubbed his beard. “Ask them if they know of a safe place to receive treatment for severe burns. After they've worn out their usefulness, we'll leave them on the next rock we see.”

Gilak smirked and nodded. “Sounds like a plan,” he said, turning to carry out Hakoda's suggestion.  
______________________________________________________________

About 20 minutes after that, Hakoda had his course: A small, neutral village that was home to an abbey. The nuns who lived in the convent there were renowned healers, herbalists and perfumers, and the place was a favorite for Fire Nation sailors on shore leave, who sought out the abbey to buy perfumes for their wives and girlfriends back home. The nuns, a still-smarting Ling promised them, controlled all traffic in and out of the abbey, and were very strict about never divulging information about any patients they saw, or allowing visitors without the patient's consent.

Hakoda relayed his orders to the rest of the fleet. The abbey was, thankfully, only two days from their current position, as far as Hakoda could figure. He'd corrected their position and finally knew precisely where he was.

And he wasn't pleased to see that the Fire Navy blockade was inching further and further east.

As for Bato, Hakoda somehow found himself unable to visit his bosun. Every time he approached Bato's quarters, fear gripped his chest like ice. Breathing became harder, and Hakoda had to retreat back topside to calm himself.  
______________________________________________________________

As promised, the protesting firebenders were dropped on the next island the fleet came to. It was tiny and deserted. Gilak made a case for simply executing them, but Hakoda assured him it would be much more suitable to leave them to their fate on the speck of land. The fleet then sailed on until they reached the Earth Kingdom shore outside the abbey.

Hakoda followed Ling's directions exactly when asking the nuns for help, and they gave him permission to bring his wounded man ashore. Hakoda called for a stretcher and assigned Naniq and Tuni to carry it. Sungka was set to gathering Bato's things.

Bato was well wrapped in furs as he was carried ashore, easing Hakoda's anxiety when he saw his friend. Bato reached out his good arm.

“I haven't seen you for two whole days,” he scolded his chief good-naturedly. “Where have you been?”

“Oh, you know,” Hakoda said, clasping Bato's arm. “Just...captain...stuff.”

Bato's smile faded as he pulled Hakoda closer and said in a low voice, “Don't leave me, brother. I don't think I can bear the pain alone.”

Hakoda gave him a nervous smile. “Don't worry. I won't.”

“Promise?”

A shaky sigh escaped Hakoda's lips. “You'll have my hand to grip the entire time they're treating your wounds,” he promised.  
_______________________________________________________________

The nuns allowed one person to stay with Bato, and that person was, of course, Hakoda. He held tight to Bato's hand as the abbess directed two novices to unwrap Bato's furs and bandages.

It was the smell that hit Hakoda first. As much as their healer had tried to debride the wounds, the smell of burning flesh still lingered.

And with the smell came the memories.

Suddenly, Hakoda was back in his own house in the South Pole. There was a body before him, charred beyond recognition.

Hakoda's vision swam, the image in his mind shifting back and forth between the memory and the extensive damage he saw on his friend's body for the first time. The burns spread across the left side of Bato's chest, extending down his arm, almost to his fingers. The skin was mostly bloody and raw, but some black edges remained. It was these that smelled of burning flesh and hair; the worst smell in the world.

Hakoda suddenly found it very hard to breathe. He could swear he heard someone screaming. A little girl. One of the novices? No. It was his sweet little Katara. He turned, trying to shield her from the image. 

He heard someone calling his name. It became more and more urgent until suddenly he smelled something else entirely different and found himself back in the treatment room of the abbey. The abbess was holding some kind of smelling salt under his nose, and the scent covered the stench of Bato's wounds almost completely.

“Hakoda,” Bato repeated through gritted teeth. “You've got your nails embedded in my palm, and it hurts almost as much as my burns.”

It took several seconds for Hakoda to process what Bato said. “Oh. Sorry,” he mumbled, relaxing his grip.

“Perhaps it would be best if you stepped outside,” the abbess suggested.

“I...I promised I wouldn't leave him,” Hakoda protested.

“It's okay, Hakoda,” Bato assured him. “You can go. I'll...I'll be alright.”

“But you said...”

“I'll tough it out. I'll make it through. Somehow. That's how we do it, right?” Bato gave his best friend a shaky smile.

Hakoda gave a false smile of his own before standing to leave, directed by the abbess. He cast a glance back at his friend's wounds, but quickly looked away again, ducking out of the room.

As he made his way to the beach, Hakoda scolded himself. He'd made a promise. How could he have broken down like that? How could he be such a coward? He'd dealt with burns before.

He sank down on the beach and buried his head in his hands, willing himself to breathe evenly. He could swear he still smelled burning flesh. He could still hear Katara screaming. He began to succumb to hyperventilation as his memories overtook him.

He could see it, smell it, hear it. He was there again. But not in time to save her. It was just like his nightmares, except this time it was a feast for all his senses. A horrible feast that he couldn't escape.

Kya was gone. There was a charred corpse where she used to be. Katara was screaming. He was trying to hold her close, trying to keep her from looking. But he couldn't look away himself.

A hand landed firmly but gently on Hakoda's back, and he looked up, the awful, awful memories finally banished to the dark recesses of his mind. He suddenly became aware of just how horrible his breathing was. Tears flowed down his cheeks. His eyes regained their focus slowly after the way he'd been shoving the heels of his hands into them. Gilak's thick beard and concerned face came into view.

“Gilak! I-I'm sorry, I must look...”

“Like a man in pain,” Gilak said calmly. “I know. I know that look. My mother wore it all the time after they came and took my father away. He didn't go quietly, either. I watched him take fire from those butchers multiple times before they were able to subdue him.” He sighed. “I was younger then than your kids were when...well...” he trailed off. “But I still remember it. I'll never forget it.” The elder tribesman looked out across the ocean and clenched his teeth, seething. “And I will _never_ forgive it.”

Hakoda let Gilak pull him into his embrace as they sat in the sand, watching a quarter moon sink toward the horizon. “When did they end?” the bereaved chief asked. “The nightmares.”

“Never,” Gilak confessed. “They get fewer and further between with time, but they never go away. But they also help remind me why I fight. I'm getting old, Hakoda. By rights I shouldn't be out here. But...I can't give up. We're doing this for the tribe. I keep going for them. I have grandkids, you know. I don't want them to know the terrors we've known.”

Hakoda nodded grimly. “We keep going,” he affirmed.

The two Water Tribesmen sat in silence for a good portion of the night, watching the waves and pondering the universe.  
___________________________________________________________________

A few days later, Hakoda knew they needed to set sail again. Bato was on the mend, but was nowhere near ready to take up his position as Hakoda's bosun. He sat with Hakoda in the room the nuns had lent him. The two were sharing a meal, with Hakoda mostly avoiding looking at Bato's thick bandages that extended from his neck to his hand.

“If you need to move on, then go,” Bato said suddenly.

“What?” Hakoda looked up in surprise at his friend.

Bato gave him a pained smile. “My recovery is going to take time. And the tribe needs you. Go on to the next rendezvous point, and I'll catch up.”

“Bato, you need us,” Hakoda protested.

“Not as much as the cause does.”

“But...”

“No, Hakoda. I can't keep you here, watching over me. Especially given how hard it is for you to even be around me right now.”

“What?! That's ridiculous! Who said it was hard to be around you? How could you even suggest it?”

“You're still recovering,” Bato stated simply.

Hakoda gave him a puzzled look. “Last I checked, I wasn't the one swathed in bandages.”

“Not the recovery I'm talking about,” Bato said. “And you know it.”

Hakoda set his bowl down. “Look, Bato, I can deal with...my own issues. You're more important.”

“You can't deal with them like this.”

“I'm fine!”

“Okay, then so am I.”

“You made me promise not to leave you!”

“And I released you from that promise.”

“Well, don't.”

“Too late. Already did.”

Hakoda ran his hand through his hair. Truth be told, the fleet had been eager to set sail again. There was still a lot of work to be done. It was now fall in the northern hemisphere, which meant that wherever they went, they would likely face storms common in the transition seasons. And if they stayed north of the equator too long, they would get caught by winter in unfamiliar territory.

They needed to move on.

Hakoda looked his friend in the eye. “You're sure you'll be okay?”

“Are you sure _you'll_ be okay?”

“I'll have the tribe,” Hakoda said with a small smile.

“I'll have a nunnery full of beautiful ladies fussing over me,” Bato said teasingly.

That drew a chuckle from Hakoda, who mock-punched Bato's good arm. “Still,” the chief said, “it's not good for a wolf to be apart from its pack.”

“I know,” Bato confessed. “It'll hurt more than these burns to see you go. But you need to. And it won't be forever.”

“I hope not.”  
___________________________________________________________________

Hakoda announced to the fleet his intentions to set sail at sunrise. When the appointed time came, he embraced his best friend as gingerly as he could.

“May the winds be in your favor,” Bato told him, “and may your dreams be your sweet escape.”

“That's not how that blessing goes,” Hakoda teased.

“I figured ad libbing was appropriate here.”

The men parted and Hakoda boarded his boat. Sungka, Naniq and Tuni finished their task of hauling the fleet's smallest sailing ship ashore and anchoring it against the tide, just in case Bato needed it to meet up with the fleet later. Then the three men boarded Hakoda's boat. They pushed off, and Hakoda stood on the stern until he could no longer see the shore he'd left his best friend on. Then he finally turned to his duties, putting a hand on the rudder and turning their vessel south.

Somehow he doubted his dreams that night would be a sweet escape. Not when he was left feeling like he'd abandoned yet another member of his tribe.


End file.
